The present invention relates to an adhesive, flexible flat skin barrier product for use as a semi-manufacture in the production of dressings, skin and wound care devices, fastening means for dressings, ostomy equipment, wound drains and catheters, e.g. for incontinence equipment for men and for similar applications, and for use in electrodes for application to the skin.
A large number of flexible skin barrier products of this general type are known, and many of them have as a main component a sealing material comprising a continuous phase containing an adhesive and for instance being built from an elastomer, an emulsifier for the elastomer, a resin promoting the adhesive capacity and optionally an oil-based extender as well as an antioxidant. In this there is in many cases dispersed a discontinuous phase comprising one or more water-soluble or water-swellable hydrocolloids, starch derivatives or cellulose derivatives or hydrophilic polymers.
Examples hereof are those known from U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,231,369 and 4,367,732. They consist of a continuous phase comprising a physically cross-linked elastomer in the form of one or more styrene-olefin-styrene block copolymers or ethylene-propylene block copolymers, a hydrocarbon tackifier in the form of a polymer or copolymer from cyclopentadiene, dicyclopentadiene, .alpha.-pinene and/or .beta.-pinene, an antioxidant and optionally a liquid paraffin as an emulsifier; and in this a discontinuous phase comprising one or more water-swellable hydrocolloids, preferably gum guar and/or sodium carboxymethyl cellulose. Known skin barriers may also contain other elastomers, e.g. natural rubber, synthetic resins of a similar nature as natural rubber and silicone rubbers. As adhesive material and structure-forming component in skin barriers polyisobutylene of a suitable molecular weight distribution is also frequently used, e.g. as stated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,339,546. In principle, all known skin-friendly self-adhesive sealants may be present in the skin barrier product according to the invention.
In the majority of the known skin barriers the composition thereof is substantially uniform over the whole of the width and length dimension (hereinafter sometimes together called the surface dimension, i.e. seen as passing from one edge to an opposite edge thereof), incidentally as a rule also in the thickness dimension, as regards the adhesive composition. This is often an advantage but in a number of instances varying properties in the surface direction may be desirable, for instance in such a way that regions or portions of adhesive material forming an angle to the flat surfaces of the product alternate with regions or portions of another kind equally forming an angle to the surfaces of the skin barrier product, e.g. made of another kind of adhesive material, of less adhesive or of non-adhesive material; or materials having more or less pronounced barrier properties, having liquid-conducting or electrically conducting properties, materials containing wound-healing substances or medicaments, or absorbing materials.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,885,559 discloses a process for the reduction of pain in the removal of adhesive tapes or bandages. This is achieved by using an adhesive tape or bandage comprising a flexible backing with an adhesive portion distributed and adhered thereon in the form of adhesive layers alternately spaced with regions of lesser or even no adhesiveness. The backing is needed to hold the regions assembled, and the individual regions do not extend through the entire thickness of the product, viz. because of the backing.
European published Patent Application No. 134,437 A1 discloses a flexible magnetic foil for therapeutic purposes. It has a flexible rubber-like foil in which permanent magnetic ferrites have been embedded, whereby the active surface of the foil has been magnetized with poles having alternating polarity. In order to attach the foil to the skin of a patient, it is provided with self-adhesive coating which is tolerable to the skin. Thus, no kind of material extends through the entire thickness of the product.